Double Vision
by captain-jaybird
Summary: Cosima and Tony meet for the first time in a bar in Minneapolis, and much bantering ensues. Mentions of Felix/Tony and Cophine.


The winter wind is bitingly cold as Cosima walks from the university, and she wishes Delphine could have come with her to Minneapolis. Cosima had flown to Toronto in such a rush, and then been so caught up in her illness, that she'd left a lot of valuable research behind and had no time to collect it until now. She sucks in a breath of the icy air, and is still relieved when it doesn't leave her coughing. The clone smiles as she remembers cracking the code to her cure, and finally outsmarting DYAD and Rachel to get Delphine back from Germany.

Delphine enjoys a nice cup of wine, and Cosima does too, but right now she's feeling like a nice shot of scotch might warm her up enough to make it back to her hotel room. Adjusting her glasses and squinting a little from the wind, Cosima sees a "Cocktails and Dining Emporium" called Stub & Herb's. Snorting at the restaurant's ambitious description, the scientist never the less heads to towards the bar.

"Whiskey on the rocks," she tells the bartender, a man in his 40's who seems to be more interested in watching the hockey game on TV than actually serving drinks. "Hey, dude," she says, waving her hand. "Can I get a whiskey on the rocks, please?"

The bartender grunts and turns around to fix her drink, and Cosima settles into her seat, glad that the bar apparently cranks up its heat enough to ward off even the Minnesota cold. _The atmosphere's not bad in here_, Cosima thinks, and contemplates how long she'd have to stay there to unfreeze her toes.

The brunette pulls out her wallet as the bartender turns toward her with her drink, but he stops her, saying gruffly "Don't worry, that guy over there's got it."

"Thanks, but I've already got a—" Cosima starts to say, and then stops dead. She's staring right into a face that looks very much like her own, if she had a beard and a silver tooth.

"'Sup dreads?" Tony slides into the seat beside her. "Reckon that barkeep thinks I have a weird thing for chicks that look like me, or that I'm your brother."

"Oh. Oh wow," Cosima breathes when she's found her voice again. "Sarah told me about you, but holy shit. I'm like you—I mean, I'm not a guy, but I'm queer, you know—"

Tony snorts, cutting off her rambling. "Queer? You're one of those crunchy granola types, aren't you, sister?"

"Excuse me?" Cosima says, mildly offended. "I don't even _like_ granola. I just meant—"

"Yeah, that we both tend towards the rainbow end of the spectrum, I get it," Tony interrupts. "Is it really that freaking interesting?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I know sexuality and gender are spectrums, but this has fascinating implications for the study of epigenetics." Cosima waves her hands around a bit for emphasis. "Like, none of the other clones have exhibited bisexual behavior save myself, and certainly none of the rest of us are boys. There's factors in utero, of course, but I really wonder—"

Tony cuts her off again. "I don't really call myself bi, I prefer the term 'fluid'. But I like both the dudes and the ladies." He flashes her a toothy grin.

"So that's two of us. You know, I really wonder if the others have suppressed tendencies for homosexual behavior."

"Well, I think Sarah might say that you don't bloody know what you're talking about," Tony laughs. "But I wouldn't be so sure."

"Yeah, she probably would." Cosima laughs too. "I don't think I'll be the one to ask her."

After that, the two clones settle into comfortable companionship for a moment. Cosima is lost in her very amused thoughts of how Alison would react (_'excuse me, Cosima, I married __**Donnie**__!'_) when Tony breaks the silence.

"Hey, why don't you knock back that drink," he says. "Bet I'd like you a lot better when you're not talkin' about science. I always cut that class."

Cosima rolls her eyes and sighs, but downs her whiskey and orders another drink. She picks beer this time, because she figures she'll be here talking to Tony for a while.

"So what brings you to Minneapolis?" the scientist asks, genuinely curious. "The odds of both of us popping up in one city are astronomical, never mind the same bar."

Tony looks at her. "The odds of _being a human clone_ are astronomical," he says. "But anyway, I pretty much hop around from town to town, and my last job brought me here."

Cosima tactfully decides not to ask what the job was. Instead, she asks Tony whether or not he'd ever consider moving to Toronto.

"You know, there's already three of us there—four if you count Rachel. But you really shouldn't. She's definitely not in Clone Club," Cosima finishes.

"I figure one town would be too much for me and anyone else with my face," Tony says as he leans forward. "But who's this Rachel chick?"

"Oh, mega-bitch," Cosima answers. "Total ice-queen pro-clone. She basically runs DYAD—the guys who made us."

"Christ," Tony says. "That's fucked up."

"Yeah, and she's been even more of a bitch since Sarah shot her eye out."

"I knew I liked that girl!" Tony crows.

"I helped too," the scientist says proudly. "I built the contraption Sarah shot her with. Rachel doesn't know that, though."

"Yeah, you're not half-bad yourself," Tony concedes. "Although it's a little weird to be proud of taking out your own clone's eye."

"Well," Cosima says, considering. "The moral implications are pretty freaky."

Tony waves his hand. "I'm not really one to judge." Cosima finds herself again unwilling to ask the obvious question.

"How's Felix doing?" Tony inquires, sounding like he actually meant it. "He and I kinda had a thing going."

"He's Sarah's _brother_," Cosima gasps, horrified. "You wouldn't really…he wouldn't really…"  
"I would completely," Tony grins wolfishly. "And whether Fee-Fee would, well, he seemed a little confused but not totally unwilling, you know what I mean?"

"We are _not_ talking about this," Cosima decides. "We are seriously, seriously not talking about this"

"It's alright," Tony says, getting up. "I gotta head out anyway. I was supposed to meet my boys an hour ago."

"It was nice meeting you," Cosima replies, reaching out to grab his arm. "And if you ever need anything, you know you've got that clone-phone."

"I'll give you a call." Tony claps her on the shoulder. "I'll even give you a ring if I'm ever around your neck of the woods. It wouldn't be a bad time if we split a six-pack or something."

Cosima smiles widely at him. "Or I could get you totally baked," she says.

"Man, I do like you," Tony admits, shaking his head, and heads out the door.

Cosima stays in the bar a little longer to finish her beer, and delay going out into the cold. She knows it'll just get worse the longer she waits, but despite being a scientist Cosima has never considered herself to be the most logical of people. '_I mean, I did go after my monitor,_' she laughs to herself, and then stops to consider.

_Does Tony have a monitor?_ Cosima wonders if she should have warned him. But he's already too far away, and as she ponders what happened with Alison, Cosima thinks that maybe sometimes ignorance is bliss. Besides, Tony seemed to live a transient enough life that it would be difficult for DYAD to track him.

"I'm gonna have a lot to tell Clone Club about when I get back," Cosima murmurs to herself. And she does, but all that also needs to wait until she's recovered her research, and with that thought the brunette gathers herself up and exits the bar.


End file.
